Reflection on:

            "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care".
             This statement can be interpreted in many ways. Perhaps one way of examining any philosophy concerning teaching or leadership is to recall experiences as both teacher and student. At various times in our lives most of us have been the "they" and the "you" in this statement. While the difference in attitude between the leader and the led is wide in most circumstances, this statement is one that could easily be realized by both.
             As a student I always started a class with some skepticism about the teacher. After all, I usually knew next to nothing about them. I wondered how qualified they were, what their agenda was, what they expected of me, and if I was any different from any other student. In almost every case the question of intelligence or qualification was answered first. A teacher's expertise and academic credentials usually became apparent about the time most of us were experiencing that initial feeling of being overwhelmed. And that is where I would remain, overwhelmed, until I saw my own place in the process.
             Some teachers and coaches I have had never took me to my place in their process. They were busy teaching math or history or something. (I once asked a teacher what they taught and they said, "students." -great answer) I was in their classroom, experiencing their knowledge, and looking back, I guess I wasn't as impressed as they"d have liked. It was the teachers took their place in the room and in the process, just like I took mine, that I respected most. Their place was different than mine to be sure. But they made sure I knew I had an important role in the process. I never felt our roles were equal, because they absolutely weren't, but I felt someone cared about my role in the process.
             I carried this philosophy into 20 years of coaching, more so in my years in professional baseball. I did care about my players.